HANDBOOK ON MINIMUMINFORMATION INTEROPERABILITYSTANDARDS (MIOS)

*

A BLUEPRINT TO GUIDE SEAMLESSNESS ANDINTEROPERABILITY IN PUBLIC SERVICE AS PRESENTED BYTHE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE

* As adopted based on the United Kingdom Minimum Information Interoperability Standards in linewith international trends and best practice

Foreword

Information systems have the potential to transform Government and theservices it provides to the public. But without consistent policies andstandards to underpin those systems it will not be possible to worktogether to deliver collaborative services.

This policy discussion document suggests the technical standards andpolicies that will act as the foundation of our e-Government strategy.These standards will allow information to flow seamlessly across thepublic sector and will provide citizens and businesses with better accessto government services. In addition, by adopting Internet and World WideWeb standards, the Framework aligns government with the rest ofindustry and serves as a basis for reducing the costs and risks associatedwith carrying out major IT projects.

We are aware that the electronic world is changing rapidly but thanks toforesight, continous research and development that informs our Internetbased change management process, we intend not only to keep pace withthis change, but where necessary, to lead in the adoption of innovativemarket leading solutions. This is also why we will be publishing a seriesof handbooks, CD Roms, newsletters and online discussion forums inorder to keep abreast with the very latest public sector standards andcomment on these, and also provide us with innovative proposals forsolving some of our generic IT problems.

Next to security and the availing of information infrastructure, theInteroperability Framework, as a cornerstone of the e-governmentstrategy, will enable us to address the challenges of today’s diversesystems and position ourselves for new opportunities in the future.

This document reflects our promise to stay ahead in the fast movingworld of e-business, by reflecting new technologies and marketdevelopments. We intend to continue to update the framework, followingcontinuous consultation, and to make it, and supplementary advice andguidance, available on the www.dpsa.gov.za website

Tables of Components and Standards

Tables of Components and Standards............................................................................3

1 Overview....................................................................................................6

Introduction ..............................................................................................................................6

Forecast Changes for future Versions...............................................................6

Scope ..............................................................................................................................................7

Main features...........................................................................................................................7

Policies and standards ............................................................................................................8

Implementation support.........................................................................................................8Management processes .....................................................................................................................9

Relationships with other initiatives .....................................................................9Security Framework .........................................................................................................................9Electronic service delivery .............................................................................................................10Portals.............................................................................................................................................10Metadata Framework......................................................................................................................10Metadata Standard ..........................................................................................................................10Government Information Technology Architecture(GITA) Framework........................................11

Your involvement..............................................................................................................11

2 Policies and Technical Standards ..........................12

Introduction ............................................................................................................................12

Key decisions and drivers ..........................................................................................12

Interconnection policies...............................................................................................13Policy for Networks........................................................................................................................13Policy for Security..........................................................................................................................13Policy for e-Mail.............................................................................................................................13Policy for Directory........................................................................................................................14Policy for Domain Naming.............................................................................................................14Policy for File Transfer Protocol (FTP)..........................................................................................14Policy for Terminal Emulation .......................................................................................................14

Interconnection standards and specifications ...........................................15Table 1 Standards and specification for interconnectivity...........................................................15

Data Interoperability.......................................................................................................17Data Interoperability Policies .........................................................................................................17Data Interoperability standards and specifications .........................................................................17

Table 2 Standards and specifications for data integration ...........................................................17

Information access policies ......................................................................................19Policies for Information Access are:...............................................................................................19Standards and Specifications for Information Access ....................................................................21

Table 3 Basic standards and specifications for information access - browsers and viewers........21Table 4 Additional standards and specifications for information access - browsers and viewers22

Content Delivery................................................................................................................23WAP access standards and specifications ......................................................................................24

Table 5 Standards and specifications for information access - mobile phones............................24

Executive Summary1. Better public services tailored to the needs of the citizen and business, asenvisioned in the e-government policy framework discussion document, require theseamless flow of information across all the tiers of government i.e. National,Provincial and Local. The Minimum Information Interoperability Standards (MIOS)sets out the Government’s technical policies and standards for achievinginteroperability and information systems coherence across the public sector. TheMIOS defines the essential pre-requisite for joined-up and web enabled government.Next to security, it is a cornerstone policy in the overall e-government strategy.

2. Adherence to the MIOS standards and policies is mandatory as also set in theproposed chapter five of the Public Service Regulations. They set the underlyinginfrastructure, freeing up public sector organisations so that they can concentrate onserving the customer through building value added information and services. It will befor the government departments themselves to consider how their business processescan be changed to be more effective by taking advantage of the opportunitiesprovided by increased interoperability. The State Information Technology Agency issetup to assist in these processess, thereby granting respective organs of state tostreamline and focus of their areas of mandate and competency.

3. The main thrust of the framework (in line with international best practice), is toadopt the Internet and World Wide Web standards for all government systems. Thereis a strategic decision to adopt Extensible Markup Language (XML) and ExtensibleStylesheet Language (XSL) as the core standard for Data interoperability andmanagement of presentational data. This includes the definition and central provisionof XML schemas for use throughout the public sector. The MIOS also adoptsstandards that are well supported in the global market place. It is a pragmatic strategythat aims to reduce cost and risk for government systems whilst aligning them to theglobal information society revolution

4. Specifying policies and standards in themselves is not enough. Successfulimplementation will mean the provision of support, best practice guidance, toolkitsand centrally agreed data schemas. To provide this, the DPSA will be launching aseries of publications through the Office of the Government ChiefInformation Officer (OGCIO). This is a Cabinet approved Office dedicated to dealwith the whole issue of technology for improved governance, which entlists thegeneration of agreements pertaining to XML data schemas for use throughout thepublic sector. the OGCIO is also now being used for wide consultation on a numberof other e-Government frameworks and processes.

5. The aims of the MIOS will not be achieved overnight. The strategy needs to bemanaged as a long-term ongoing initiative and must therefore be supported by robustprocesses. These processes, including the roles and responsibilities of keystakeholders, committees, management and working groups, are outlined in thedocument. Of particular significance is the establishment of a GovernmentInformation Technology Officers Council, (GITOC) which consists of representativesfrom all Government departments including provincial and local Government. Other

stakeholders include, the Department of Communications (DoC), Department of ArtsCulture Science and Technology (DACST), Department of Public Enterprises (DPE),National Intelligence Agency (NIA)etc.

6. It is also essential to ensure that the MIOS remains up to date and aligned to therequirements of all stakeholders and able to embrace the potential of new technologyand market developments. In this instance, cooperation and collaboration becomes acritical success factor for the formulation of strategic synergies. The MIOS introducesan Internet based change management process which has been designed to engage andserve the stakeholder community in a dynamic way and to bring in innovations fromindustry on a global basis.

1 Overview

Introduction

1.1 Modernising government and joined-up government demand joined-up information systems. Interoperable systems working in a seamlessand coherent way across the public sector hold the key to providingbetter services tailored to the needs of the citizen and business and ata lower cost.

1.2 At the same time, clearly defined policies and standards forinteroperability and information are also key to staying connected tothe outside world and aligned to the global information revolution.This revolution is fuelled by the explosive growth of the Internet andits technologies.

1.3 The Minimum Information Interoperability Standards (MIOS) setsout the Government’s policies and standards for achievinginteroperability and seamless information flow across government aswell as the wider public sector. The Minimum InteroperabilityStandards are fundamental in supporting the e-Government Policypublished in April 2001.

1.4 The implementation and management process are defined in theMIOS Implementation Support document. This can be obtained from

Forecast Changes for future Versions

1.5 Aspects currently under consideration for future versions include:• IPv6.• Standards for Video Conferencing and IP Telephony• Standards for Voice over IP• Standards for chat and instant messaging• Standards for Biometrics and Smart Cards• Detail of the compliance processes• Further detail on the implementation strategy• Identification and linkage to public sector communities’

frameworks• Incorporation of ebXML standards

• Standards for content delivery to:o Support the indigenous languageso the disabled

Scope

1.6 The scope of the MIOS comprises the exchange of data andinformation access between RSA Government systems covering theinteractions between:RSA Government and citizensRSA Government and employeeRSA Government and businesses (world wide)

1.7 “RSA Government” includes National and Provincial Governmentdepartments and their agencies, Local Government and the widerpublic sector, e.g. organs of state, state-owned enterprises etc.

1.8 The MIOS standards are mandated on all new systems that fall withinthe scope defined in paragraph 1.5 above. In order to address some ofthe interoperability challenges identified by e-Government Policy, allother systems ( which deliver citizen and/or business centric servicesand are part of departmental electronic service delivery) and legacysystems will need to comply with these standards.

1.9 For systems that fall outside the scope and mandate, the MIOS isrecommended in all public sector procurements and major upgradesto other departmental legacy systems. Guidance on complying withthis mandate is given in the MIOS Implementation Supportdocument.

1.10 The MIOS does not standardise the appearance of information on thehuman interface which can be provided by various user channels e.g.web browsing, public kiosks, Digital TV and WAP phones. TheMIOS does standardise the interchange requirements for the deliveryof data to interfaces and tools for the management of the presentationof data.

Main features

1.11 The MIOS comprises three major components: policies andstandards, a strategy for XML schemas provision. Policies and

standards are outlined below. The management processes and thestrategy for XML schema provision are defined in the MIOSImplementation Support document. The logical separation of thecomponents was done to ensure maneageable maintenance ofcomponents. This would ensure that update or modifications in onecomponent does not necessarily affect the other component e.g. if themanagement structure changes, this would not necessarily affect thestandards. Although MIOS implementation is not covered here, anoverall picture is provided to ensure continuity between thecomponents.

Policies and standards

1.12 The technical policies and standards for interoperability across thepublic sector are specified in Section 2 of this document. These arethe minimum set necessary to support the range of transactions andservices provided by government and to integrate informationsystems within government. These policies and standards have alsobeen chosen to interconnect and align government to the Internet andits future development.

1.13 The policies and standards in the MIOS cover three key areas oftechnical policy, which are essential for interoperability. These areInterconnectivity, Data Interoperability and Information Access.

1.14 In all of these areas, the main thrust of the specification has been toadopt the Internet and World Wide Web standards for all governmentsystems. There is also a strategic decision to adopt XML as the mainstandard for data integration. This strategy includes provision ofXML schemas for use throughout the public sector based on a set ofagreed data standards, e.g. BS 7666 for property addresses.

Implementation support

1.15 The adoption of XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) and XSL(Extensible Stylesheet Language) form the cornerstone of thegovernment data presentation and integration strategy. Howeveradopting these standards, in themselves, is not sufficient.

1.16 Achieving data coherence across government means that governmentorganisations need data schemas that have been agreed for usethroughout the public sector. They also need information, bestpractice guidance and toolkits to make implementation easier. Inorder to meet these demands, the RSA Government has embarked onan initiative to propose mechanisms and standards for achievinginteroperability based on best practice and lessons learned from othercountries. This initiative, managed by SITA e-Services, will publishon the Internet the draft and agreed XML data schemas which canthen be applied to any public sector system. The group will also makeavailable on the RSA MIOS web site the best of breed toolkits,guidance and information on XML implementation.

Management processes

1.17 The work of integrating and evolving information systems across thepublic sector is a complex on-going process. The MIOS approach andpolicies must not only support and enhance government’s businessprocesses but also ensure that it stays tuned to the possibilities of newtechnological advances and innovations.

1.18 The MIOS management processes are described in MIOSImplementation Support. These cover:

• a governance process that describes the roles andresponsibilities, committee structures and complianceprocesses

• an Internet based change management process that isdesigned to introduce a global consultation and changeprocess for capturing maximum stakeholder involvementand innovation.

Relationships with other initiatives

Security Framework

1.19 ISO 17799 (formerly BS 7799) is being proposed across National andProvincial Government departments and is recommended across thewider public sector as a framework for Information SecurityManagement. For more information on Security policies, seewww.dpsa.gov.za, click on e-Government

Electronic service delivery

1.20 Following the publication of its e-Commerce strategy in the“Towards an e-Government” and “the e-Government Policy”accessible at www.dpsa.gov.za, the Government is now looking atstrategic options and priorities for services to the citizen and howgovernment should be organised to deliver these services. Thesecitizen focused services, once defined and agreed upon, will act asmajor drivers for the types of data schemas that will need to be agreedupon and delivered by SITA e-Services.

Portals

1.21 The RSA Government is considering the portal approach to providean easy to use, trusted and personalised service, allowing the citizento deal with government on a one-to-one basis, whilst presentinggovernment as an integrated organisation. It aims to be the citizen’s‘personal window’ on government and the preferred method for thepublic to engage with the public sector.

1.22 The MIOS standards are applicable to all future portal developmentsin government and also give the standards specification for privatesector portals wishing to link up to the government portal.

Metadata Framework

1.23 The e-Government Metadata Framework (e-GMF) needs to bedefined to set the Government’s policies for establishing andimplementing metadata standards across the public sector. Where theMIOS lays down the technical standards for information connectivity,the e-GMF is concerned with the particular facets of metadataintended to support resource discovery and records management.

Metadata Standard

1.24 The e-Government Metadata Standard (e-GMS) will cover the coreset of ‘elements’ that contain data needed for the effective retrievaland management of official information. The e-Government Metadata

Framework (e-GMF) outlines the policy that will lead to the e-Government Metadata Standard (e-GMS) being used across all ofGovernment’s information systems. The main thrust of the e-GMF isto provide a set of metadata elements suitable for the needs of theGovernment, and to develop a Pan-Government Thesaurus.

Government Information Technology Architecture(GITA) Framework

1.25 The MIOS is an integral part of the GITA. MIOS resides within thegovernance layer of the GITA framework. The governance layerincludes best practices, policies and standards. Interoperabilitystandards are a special component of standards meant to defineconnectivity, integration and interface between systems and users.

Your involvement

1.26 Continual engagement of all our stakeholders in the development andimplementation of the MIOS is a fundamental policy objective.Government departments and their agencies, organs of state, localgovernment, industry and the citizen are all encouraged to commentand suggest ways of improving the strategy, and providing supportand implementation of the MIOS. Our preferred way will be throughthe Internet on the dedicated RSA MIOS web site.

2 Policies and Technical Standards

Introduction

2.1 This section of the MIOS defines the minimum1 set of technicalpolicies and standards necessary to achieve interoperability and seamlessinformation flows across Government and the public sector.

2.2 The current specification for the MIOS is given below and covers theareas of interconnectivity, Data Interoperability and Information Access.Each area is presented in two parts, first the key policy decisions and thena table containing the specified standard including version numbers andnotes. Government is, however, committed to ensuring that these policiesand standards are kept aligned to the changing requirements of the publicsector and to the evolution of the market and technology.

Key decisions and drivers

2 .3 At the highest level, the MIOS has been shaped by threekey policy decisions; these are:

• alignment with the Internet – the universal adoption ofcommon standards used on the Internet and World WideWeb for all public sector information systems,

• adoption of XML – as the primary standard for DataInteroperability and presentation tools for all publicsector systems and

• W3C compliant browser as the key interface – all publicsector information systems to be accessible throughbrowser based technology. Other interfaces are permittedbut only in addition to browser based ones.

2.4 The selection of MIOS standards has been driven by:

• Interoperability – only standards that are relevant toSystems Interconnectivity, Data Interoperability andInformation Access are specified

• Market support - the standards selected are widelysupported by the market, and are likely to reduce the costand risk of government information systems

• Scalability – standards selected have the capacity to bescaled to satisfy changed demands made on the system,such as changes in data volumes, number of transactionsor number of users.

• Open Standards -- the specifications for the standards aredocumented and available to the public at large.

Interconnection policies

2.5 The policies for systems interconnection are defined below:

Policy for Networks• Departments are to interconnect using IPv4, noting that RSA

Government is considering the adoption of IPv6 in due course.Peering agreements should investigated and considered wherepossible.

Policy for Security• Protectively marked data will be handled and transmitted in

accordance with the provisions of the ISO 17799• Non-protectively marked data will be handled and transmitted in

accordance with the Public Service Information SecurityFramework

Policy for e-Mail.• To use a product that supports interfaces which conform to the

SMTP/MIME.• Within government, the norm will be to use the intrinsic security to

ensure e-mail confidentiality. Outside secure governmentnetworks, S/MIME V3 should be used for secure messaging.

Policy for DirectoryA Directory schema should be developed to support a range ofcommunication services including message handling, telephone andfacsimile services as well as interactive access to a range of otherapplications.

Policy for Domain Naming• Projects are to follow the RSA Government Domain Naming

policy.Domain Name Services(DNS) is to be used for Internet/intranetdomain name to IP address resolution.

Policy for File Transfer Protocol (FTP)FTP should be used where file transfer is necessary within GovernmentIntranets. Restart and recovery facilities of FTP are to be used whentransferring very large files.

Policy for Terminal EmulationWeb based technology is to be used in applications that previously usedTerminal Emulation whenever possible.

Interconnection standards and specifications

2.6 The RSA Government standards and specifications forinterconnectivity are:

Table 1 Standards and specification for interconnectivity

Component Standard

Hypertext transfer protocols HTTP v1.1 (RFC 2616) Hypertextstandards include on-line wide-areapublishing services.

E-mail E-mail products that support interfacesthat conform to the SMTP/MIME. Thisincludes RFC 821; RFC 822; RFC 2045;RFC 2046; RFC 2047; RFC 2048; RFC2049NB. E-mail attachments may conform tothe file types for browsers and viewers asdefined in table 3. The file types in table4 may also be attachments when supportfor the extensive funtionality provided bysuch components is essential.

E-mail security S/MIME V3 shall be used whereappropriate for pan governmentmessaging security unless securityrequirements dictate otherwise. Thisincludes RFC 2630 to RFC 2633.

Directory X.500 core schema .LDAP V3 is to be used for general-purpose directory user access.

Domain name services DNS (RFC 1035)

File transfer protocols FTP (RFC 959) (with restart andrecovery) and HTTP(RFC 2616) for file transfer

Newsgroup services NNTP (RFC 977) where required, subjectto security constraints

LAN/WAN interworking IPv4 (RFC 791)

Security National government departments shouldrefer to the security policy atwww.dpsa.gov.za. This policy is basedon ISO 17799.

IP security IP-SEC (RFC2402/2404)IP encapsulation security ESP (RFC2406)Transport security SSL v3/TLS (RFC 2246)

Transport TCP (RFC 793)UDP (RFC 768) where required, subjectto security constraints

Note: Copies of the IETF RFCs can be found at www.ietf.org/rfc.html

Data Interoperability

Data Interoperability Policies

2.7 RSA Government Policy is to use:• XML and XML Schema for Data Interoperability• RDF for Metadata framework. It provides interoperability between

applications that exchange machine-understandable information onthe Web.

• UML v1.3 (Notation, Meta-model and Extensible MetadataInterchange XMI Data Type Definition DTD ), for all businessand system/application modeling.

• XSL for data transformation.

2.8 XML products will be written so as to comply with therecommendations of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Wherenecessary the government will base the work on the draft W3C standardsbut will avoid the use of any product specific XML extensions that arenot being considered for open standardisation within the W3C.

Data Interoperability standards and specifications

2.9 The RSA Government standards and specifications for DataInteroperability and transformation are:

Table 2 Standards and specifications for data integration

Component Standard

Metadata/Meta language XML (Extensible MarkupLanguage) as defined by W3Cwww.w3.org/XML

Metadata definition XML-Schema

Data transformation XSL (Extensible StylesheetLanguage) as defined by W3Cwww.w3.org/TR/xsl/

Modelling andDescription Language UML (Unified Modelling

Language)www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/omg_modeling_specifications_avai.htmRDF (Resource DescriptionFramework) as defined by W3C

www.w3.org/TR/REC-rdf-syntax/

Data definition and schema Government Data Standardsstandardisation process

Minimum interoperable character set Transformation Format – 8 bitUTF-8 (RFC 2279), individualitems in the XML schema may befurther restricted in character seton a case by case basis.

Geospatial data GML (Geospatial MarkupLanguage) as defined by OpenGeographic Council.www.opengis.org/techno/specs.ht

m

Note: Copies of the W3C specifications can be found at: www.w3.org/TR

Notes on XML and middleware :not all systems are required to be directly XML enabled whereappropriate it is acceptable to use middleware as illustrated below.

2.10 Note: although the configurations below present potential solutions, itshould be clear that new procurements should strive to use the directXML model as shown.

Figure 1 Direct XML Model

Direct interchange

XMLSystem

ASystem

B

Figure 2 Interchanges via middleware

Information Access Policies

Policies for Information Access are:2.11 The Government Policies for information access are

• government information systems will be designed so that as muchinformation as possible can be accessed and manipulated fromcommon commercial browsers through utilisation of functionalityfreely supported and available within the browser community.

• government information systems will be designed to be available,as appropriate, on the Internet, either directly, or via third partyservices

• government information systems will support the standards andspecifications listed in the browser standards and specificationstables below using, where necessary, freely available browser plug-ins or dedicated viewers

• government information systems will be designed to provideprotection against security risks of connection to the Internet,including the ability to protect against the vulnerability ofdownloading executable content code that is not authenticated

• additional middleware or plug-ins are to be used, when necessary,to enhance browser functionality

• browser standards adopted for conformance should support thosefeatures that a business or citizen may be assumed to haveavailable or can easily download without incurring a licensing fee,not withstanding the policy requirement that all public sectorinformation systems be accesible through browser based

XMLSystemA

SystemB

Middleware Middleware

XMLSystemA

SystemB

Middleware

technology, other interfaces are permitted in addition to browserbased ones

• government information access systems will be designed toprovide the ability to support the citizen in their own time and attheir own pace i.e. for asynchronous operation as well assynchronous

Standards and Specifications for Information Access

2.12 The Government standards and specifications for information access,browsers and viewers are defined in tables 3 and 4 below. The services tobe delivered to the citizen will dictate the expected standards required tobe supported by the browser. However, as some browsers may onlysupport the basic standards listed in table 3, this results in only a limitedset of e-Government services being able to be offered via such browsers.

2.13 As such, the essential minimal level of information required to beaccessed and viewed by the citizen should either be conveyed or becapable of being converted using personalization technologies, e.g.transcoders, through the use of the basic standards in table 3.

Table 3 Basic standards and specifications for information access - browsersand viewers

Basic Component Standard

Hypertext interchange formats Those parts of HTML v4.0 andXHTML commonly implementedby Netscape Navigator v4 or later,and MS Internet Explorer v4 orlater, plus their interoperableextensions

Document file types Adobe Acrobat as (.pdf), minimumviewer version 3Rich Text Format as (.rtf ) filesPlain/Formatted Text as(.txt) filesOther product viewer as (.htm)files where the HTML generatedconforms to the standard forHypertext interchange formatcomponents

Spreadsheet file types Proprietary product viewer as(.htm) files where the HTMLgenerated conforms to the standardfor Hypertext interchange formatcomponents

Delimited file as (.csv) files

Presentation file types Proprietary viewer products as(.htm) files where the HTMLgenerated conforms to the standardfor Hypertext interchange formatcomponents

Character sets and alphabets UNICODEISO/IEC 10646-1:2000Transformation Format for 16planes of group 00 (UTF-16)

Graphical/still imageinformation exchange Joint Photographic Experts Group

/ISO standards 10918 (.jpg)Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)Portable Network Graphics (.png)For images that will not tolerateinformation loss useTag Image File Format (.tif)

2.13 Some services to be delivered to the citizen will require moreextensive funtionality in the browser. Where such extensive funtionalityis required the standards used should be selected from those listed in table4.

Table 4 Additional standards and specifications for information access -browsers and viewers

Additional Component Standard

Extended Document file types Lotus Notes Web Access (.nsf)Microsoft Word Viewer (.doc)

Moving Image and audio/visualInformation exchange standards Moving Picture Experts Group

(.mpg) MPEG-1/ISO 11172Conversion is provided by mostmainstream packages

Audio/video streaming data Real Audio, Real Video Shockwave Windows Media

Format (.wmf, .wmv and .wma)

Apple Quicktime, WaveformAudio File Format (.wav).8µ LawH263

Animation Macromedia Flash (.swf)Dynamic html (.dhtml)

Scripting ECMA 262 ScriptJava Virtual Machine – forbrowser enhancements

General purpose file compression File types (.tar), (.zip) and (.gz) filetypes

Content Delivery

2.14 The design aim is for the content to be independent of the deliverymechanism, hence the strategic direction is to use XML and XSL (seetable 2).

2.15 The full range of services to be delivered to the citizen will dictatethe standards required. Content management techniques andpersonalisation technologies can be used to support various deliverychannels e.g. low function web browsers, public kiosks, Digital TV,WAP phones, etc.

2.16 Transcoding services, as an example of personalisation technologies,can deliver web content to a variety of destination environments withingreatly reduced timescales and at significantly reduced cost. Theprinciple is that transcoding can be used to dynamically filter, convert andreformat web content to match the requirements and display capabilitiesof the destination device. Transcoding technology is server-side softwarethat modifies Web page content based on data protocols, markuplanguages, device and network parameters and user preferences.

2.17 Personalisation technologies may also be used to support groups suchas ethnic minorities or visually impaired or blind people (i.e. by using texttranslation, larger fonts and graphics, audio, etc. via a transcoder).

WAP access standards and specifications

2.18 The services to be delivered to the citizen via mobile phones willconform to the WAP Specification Suite, published by the WAP Forumas implemented to interoperable standards by the WAP providers.

2.19 The issues of security, relating to transactions undertaken throughmobile phones, are complex and depend on emerging industry standards.Work in this area will be undertaken in due course. In the meantime thelack of standards does not imply that security issues can be ignored.Decisions will need to be made on a case by case basis depending on thenature of the transaction in question.

Table 5 Standards and specifications for information access - mobile phonesComponent Standard

WAP specifications The specifications to be used are definedby the WAP Forum, seewww.wapforum.org/what/technical.htm